


Full Nelson

by poisonivory



Category: DCU, DCU - Comicverse, Justice League International (Comic)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-07
Updated: 2012-07-07
Packaged: 2017-11-09 09:32:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/453981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonivory/pseuds/poisonivory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Booster gets a lesson in wrestling, history, and Ted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full Nelson

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2009 Summer Boostlethon. Thanks to queenitsy and mizzmarvel for the beta!

“Johnson’s ten yards from the goal line with less than a minute left in the quarter, and – ”

_Click!_

“…witness the strikingly beautiful _Onthophagus gazella_ Fabricius as it burrows through this convenient pile of manure.”

Ted slung himself over the arm of the couch and flopped down beside Booster. Booster glared at him. “Hey, I was watching the game.”

Ted made a dismissive hand gesture, his gaze fixed on the nature documentary. “Eh, don’t bother. I can tell you how it ends. The meatheads beat the jockstraps. Or maybe the jockstraps beat the meatheads? It’s kind of hard to tell sometimes.”

“Watch it,” Booster said, making a grab for the remote. “I was one of those meatheads once.” He paused. “I mean…”

Ted evaded Booster’s lunge without looking. “Aw, don’t worry, buddy. You’re still a meathead. Here, watch some science. It’ll learn ya.” He twirled the remote like a miniature baton, smirking a little.

The curve of his mouth was infuriating. “Thanks, but I don’t need to see your relatives wading through poop,” Booster said, and reached for the remote again, holding Ted down with the other arm to stop him scooting away. Ted might have been quick, but Booster’s arms were longer.

Just as his fingers closed on the remote, though, Ted threw out an elbow to the ribs and wiggled out of Booster’s grasp. “Uh uh uh, too slow!” he said, just before falling off the couch.

Booster snorted. “Nice. Was that karate or jiu jitsu, that move there?”

Ted looked haughty. “That was all Beetle-fu, I’ll have you know,” he said. Then he reached up and yanked Booster off the couch mid-laugh.

It probably wasn’t Ted’s smartest move, since Booster weighed more than he did, and came tumbling down right on top of him. “Whoof!” Ted groaned as Booster’s weight knocked the air from his lungs. Booster took advantage of Ted’s momentary windedness to snatch the remote and scramble away.

“Oh no you don’t!” Ted said, lunging forward, and suddenly Booster found himself pinned. _Really_ pinned, too, so that a few seconds of wiggling didn’t free him.

“Quarter nelson,” Ted said smugly. “See, this is why you need to take combat training instead of just relying on gadgets.”

“What do you call the B.B. gun?” Booster asked, turning his face to the side to avoid getting a mouthful of carpet.

“A _supplemental_ gadget. It’s completely diff—whoa!”

Booster took advantage of Ted’s distraction to push up as hard as he could, breaking Ted’s hold. “You’re gonna try wrestling lessons on an athlete?” he asked, sitting back on his haunches. “Let’s go.”

Ted raised an eyebrow. “Did they – _will_ they – have wrestling in the 25th century?”

“No, but they have _l’ar karlaz’ar_ ,” Booster said. “It’s from offworld, but the principles are simil— _oof_!”

He’d fallen for his own trick, and Ted had tackled him while he was talking. They tumbled over a few times, and for a minute Booster thought he’d gotten the upper hand – until Ted got an arm around his shoulder, and Booster found himself making even better friends with the floor than he had in the previous pin.

“Half nelson,” Ted said. “A very common move in amateur wrestling. And this is _very_ amateur.”

“Har har,” Booster mumbled. He was beginning to notice a worse problem than Ted repeatedly humiliating him. There were not many men who could remain unaffected by rolling around on the floor with the secret object of their maybe-affections, and Booster was not one of them. It wasn’t that he spent tortured days and sweaty nights pining for Ted – much – but he certainly would have been amenable to a different kind of wrestling with his best friend. But as far as Booster could tell with gaydar tuned to 25th century mores, Ted was straight, his constant touching of Booster notwithstanding, and even if he wasn’t, transitioning from friendship to…something else…was difficult in _any_ century. Booster preferred to let that particular itch go unscratched rather than lose Ted entirely.

Clearly this “lesson” had to be ended, and soon. Booster gritted his teeth and rolled sideways into Ted, breaking Ted’s grip and reaching up to press Ted’s arms back against the floor, his side pressing down into Ted’s stomach. Straddling Ted would probably have given him a more secure hold, but Booster knew better than to try that. He already had to lean forward to use his weight against Ted, which brought his face dangerously close to Ted’s.

“What’s this hold called?” Booster asked. “The comeuppance crescent?”

Ted was grinning, that awful grin that made Booster do anything he suggested, and over his flushed cheeks his eyes were unfairly blue. “Hoist by my own petard,” he admitted. Booster wasn’t sure what a petard was, but he wouldn’t have minded hoisting Ted’s.

“There’s a reason that’s not a real hold, though,” Ted continued, and scooted suddenly to the side, out from under Booster’s hip. Booster tried to keep his grip on Ted’s arms, but his leverage was gone, and before he knew it, he was pinned again, even tighter.

“Don’t tell me…” he started.

“Three-quarter nelson,” Ted said, his voice tight with exertion. “Seventy-five cents of total dominance.” His heartbeat was pressed against Booster’s shoulder, his breath hot on Booster’s neck, and oh, Booster wanted to _die_.

He grappled for something witty to say, something to defuse this, but what came out was “Don’t you wrestle naked in this century?” which wasn’t funny at _all_.

“That’s _ancient Greece_ ,” Ted said. His breathing was still ragged, even though Booster wasn’t resisting the hold and Ted couldn’t be exerting himself that much. “Some history major.”

“Ancient athletics wasn’t really my specialty,” Booster said.

“See, and now don’t you wish it had been?” Ted asked. His palm on Booster’s neck was sweaty, which shouldn’t have been hot, and yet.

“Actually, now that you mention it…” Booster took advantage of Ted’s slippery palms and relaxed arms to wrench himself out Ted’s grip. “No.”

Ted tried for another hold, but Booster dodged and then pounced before Ted could recover his balance. They rolled over once, twice – _ow_ – into the coffee table, and back again, Booster’s knees scrabbling for purchase on the hardwood floor. He got a grip on Ted’s right wrist, another on his bicep, and without realizing exactly how he did it, there, Ted was pinned, Booster’s weight thrust forward over him again, one knee between Ted’s thighs, and – oh.

Oh.

Booster stared at Ted, who looked like he couldn’t decide whether to be mortified or just go straight into blind panic. He was still flushed and panting, but now Booster realized that neither of those was from the exercise.

“Ted…?”

“Oh God, you hate me now.” It was barely a whisper.

Booster shook his head, slowly.

Ted wriggled a little, trying to get away, so miserable-looking it made Booster’s heart turn over. “Are you going to let me g– ”

Booster kissed him.

Ted squeaked in surprise, and Booster had a momentary spasm of terror; then he _felt_ Ted relax beneath him, a full-body sigh, and Ted was kissing him back. He tasted like Cheetos, and Booster filed that away for future scolding purposes, but Ted was warm and willing and his hands, when Booster remembered to let them go, were tangled in Booster’s hair, and this was _perfect_ , no, it was better than perfect, because it was real.

“No,” he said, when they came up for air minutes or days or centuries later.

Ted looked bewildered. “Huh?”

“No, I’m not going to let you go.” Booster kissed Ted’s throat, and Ted groaned and rocked up, which made Booster think of all sorts of things they really shouldn’t be doing on the living room floor.

“Good,” Ted said. His smile turned crooked. “Although you realize this isn’t a legal hold, so technically I’m still winning.”

“What?” Booster gasped in mock surprise. “Not even in ancient Greece? What’s the point of wrestling naked, then?”

“Well, they were very primitive,” Ted explained, and nipped at Booster’s lower lip.

“Want to go practice wrestling Greek-style anyway?” Booster murmured. Ted shivered against him, and Booster made a mental note to make Ted shiver as often as possible from now on.

“Good idea,” Ted said, and pushed Booster back so that they could sit, and then stand. “I still have some holds I need to show you.”

“Seven-eighths nelson?” Booster asked.

“Something like that.”

“I may require a lot of practice,” Booster warned him as he pulled Ted towards his bedroom.

“That’s okay.” Ted grinned, and oh, Booster would still do anything for that smile. “I’ve got time.”


End file.
